DEUT384 The factors that lead to the loss of [humility] are extravagance and overindulgence regarding the good things of this world, as stated explicitly in Scripture (this and two preceding verses): "So that it will not happen, [when] you eat and are satisfied… that you become conceited.…" For this reason, those who are pious have found that it is beneficial for a person to sometimes afflict himself, in order to humble the [evil] inclination of haughtiness, since it only succeeds in strengthening itself through excess. This is similar to what they of blessed memory have said (Berachos 32a): "A lion does not roar over a basket of straw, but over a basket of meat."